Is time running out to save Hinckley's Big Pit?

Leicestershire County Council planning officers are recommending approval for the scheme which will mean up to 76 lorries a day dumping soils and clay for at least five months before any construction work begins

The Big Pit off Ashby Road, Hinckley, subject of a number of planning bids to fill in and build homes

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Time could be running out for Hinckley’s Big Pit as plans to fill it in for a housing estate look set to get the green light.

Leicestershire County Council planning officers are recommending approval for the scheme which will mean up to 76 lorries a day dumping soils and clay for at least five months before any construction work begins.

Councillors on the planning committee will vote on the controversial outline application today.

In a report to the committee, planning officer Steve Marriott dismisses the former clay pit as ecologically unimportant despite the county’s nature team objecting to its loss.

The pool, a legacy of former clay quarrying, is regarded locally as a wildlife haven and is one of the only stretches of open water left in Hinckley.

A 40-name petition and 56 protest letters, plus representations from Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council have also held no sway.

Mr Marriott argues the application meets key national planning policies and adds: “The balance has to be struck between bringing brownfield land within a built-up area into beneficial use by restoring a longstanding disused quarry, meeting a recognised housing requirement within Hinckley and alleviating potential flooding issues against the loss of an area of local amenity land - although not publicly accessible - and the short term impacts of preparing and developing the land for housing.

“The key issue is whether the development as a whole can be carried out without unacceptable adverse impact on local amenity and if it can’t, can measures be put in place to mitigate these impacts or are there benefits that outweigh any harm.”

The bid is being determined at County Hall as the initial infill works are seen as a ‘tipping’ issue which is regulated by the county.

Any consequent housing application will be looked at by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.

Hinckley and Bosworth borough councillors are dismayed at the prospect of approval.

Councillor Michael Mullaney, also a county representative, said: “I completely disagree with the plans to fill in the Big Pit and am appalled Leicestershire County Council may approve the plans. “There is huge concern about the risk of flooding of nearby properties if the Big Pit was filled in.

“It is also a nature haven in the middle of Hinckley that needs to be preserved. I myself have seen ducks and other wildlife on the Big Pit and it would be a tragedy if the plans to fill it in went ahead.

“I will be speaking at the planning meeting urging them to turn down these destructive plans to fill in and build on the Big Pit. This vital nature feature in Hinckley must be saved.”

Planning permission was given for housing on the southern end of the site off Ashby Road several years ago but no development has ever been undertaken.

This new bid suggests between 50 and 60 homes with landscaping and the reinstatement of Sunnyside Brook which ran through the site before quarrying.

The report recommends approval subject to a number of conditions including creation of rigorous mitigation schemes covering noise, dust, vibration, lighting and traffic, a maximum of 75 lorry tips a day, construction of a footpath through to Ashby Road and a ban on vegetation removal between March and August to protect nesting birds.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council have called for the application to be rejected due to lack of information over the noise impact from the nearby Asda store on any new homes built.

* More than 250 residents living near the Big Pit in Hinckley have signed a petition opposing plans to fill in the site arguing it is a wildlife haven.

Today Leicestershire County Council’s planning committee will determine a planning application which will mean filling in the pool and nature feature behind Asda and allow houses to be built on it.

Cllr Mullaney said: “Clearly there is very strong opposition among the people living near the site of the Big Pit to these plans to fill it in. People are particularly concerned about the destruction of a wildlife haven in the town and possible risk of flooding.

“I hope the county council’s planning control committee members will listen to residents’ concerns, oppose the plans to fill in the Big Pit and save this important local nature feature.”